Brian Bowles Meets Takeya Mizugaki at UFC 132 in July

Brian Bowles will look to take another step towards a shot at getting the UFC bantamweight title back, but to do so he’ll have to go through Japanese fighter Takeya Mizugaki at UFC 132.

The UFC announced the new match-up on Monday.

Since his loss to current champion Dominick Cruz in 2010, Brian Bowles (9-1) has dealt with a broken hand and then a broken foot that kept him out of action for almost a year.

Bowles bounced back strong however submitting Damacio Page in his return to action at UFC on Versus 3 in March. Now he’ll face another tough opponent as he looks to get back in the race for bantamweight belt.

Looking to derail his title hopes will be Takeya Mizugaki (14-5-2) who has had a taste of the top contender’s spot in the bantamweight division, and will get closer to that again if he can get past Bowles in July.

During his time between the WEC and UFC, Mizugaki has gone 3-3 but not without facing some of the stiffest competition the division has to offer.

The bantamweights will square off at UFC 132 as part of the July 2 card headlined by fellow 135lbers Dominick Cruz and Urjiah Faber.